veterans administration

If you drove down Clinton Avenue in east central Fresno this morning, you may have seen a rally outside of the Fresno Department of Veterans Affairs. A few dozen veterans and VA staff chanted "when U.S. veterans are under attack, what do you do? Stand up, fight back," in protest over vacancies within the VA health system.

Veterans’ hospitals across the country are short of as many as 49,000 staff, including doctors and nurses. That’s after a 2014 law that allowed veterans to see providers outside the VA system.

In what may seem like a huge task, Fresno is looking to end veteran homelessness by 2015. Last week the city announced its participation in a nationwide program - 25 Cities Initiative - to end veteran and chronic homelessness.